


Star-crossed Sinners

by Tiff309



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-03-12 04:03:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 20,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13539315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiff309/pseuds/Tiff309
Summary: The story between Assassin Lena and her apprentice Kara.Are they destined to be together? Or is their killer profession destined to keep them apart?Also featuring CIA Agent Alex Danvers and Maggie Sawyer, the leader of the biggest Assasin Organization.Minor characters from DCTV will be added as the story progresses.Stay tuned...





	1. Yes, Master.

1  
There is only the sound of wind.  
A flying dart appears in the air leaving a trace of silver in the pitch black night. The dart goes right toward the forehead of the guard, and he goes down without a sound. Before his partner even notices, Kara emerges from the dark and slips his throat with a sharp knife. The blood spills everywhere. In the slim mist of blood, she takes down all the other guards in the garden one by one. Quick and emotionless.  
Another strong wind blows past, the trees in the garden sways from side to side gently like nothing has happened. The pale moonlight makes the blood on her face extra noticeable. But she doesn’t seem to mind. She stares at the closed door of the house that is right in front of the garden with a cold face.  
Finally, the door opens, and a woman who is wearing a bathrobe walks out. Her rode is messed up and most parts are covered in blood. Visible marks of intimacy spreads over her pale skin. She casually ties her messy hair into a ponytail and says, “Mission complete, let’s go.”  
Kara walks toward the woman and tidies up her robe. Then she puts a silencer on her gun and walks toward the open door. She shoots the already dead man repeatedly until her clip is empty and as soon as she turns around, she sees the woman staring at her.  
“As killers, we are tools for other people. And we have to do everything to complete our tasks, seduction is just an effective way of doing it. You are using your personal feelings again, Kara.”  
Kara opens her mouth, but the name Lena is just stuck at her throat. She can’t say it.  
“It’s my fault, Master.” So she said.


	2. Chapter 2

2  
On the way back to the hotel, Lena stays silent. Kara can see the marks on her neck without even moving her head.   
She is angry and sad, but there is nothing she can do about it.  
Because in Lena’s eyes, she doesn’t even have the right to be angry.  
She is a killer, and a killer cannot have feelings. That is the message that Lena repeatedly tell her ever since they first met.  
She remembers the time when she first got out of the Arena. She remembers she had to kill a lot of people in order to get out of there alive. She remembers when she got out, she remembered nothing from the past: she forgot her past, her family, even her name.   
She remembers that she was treated like an animal until she met Lena.  
And that was probably the only good thing that ever happened to her. At least that is what she believes.  
They arrive at the hotel half an hour later, Lena gives her keys to the valet person and walks toward the elevator. Kara stays behind her keeping a respectful distance and stays quiet for the whole time.   
After Lena changes into casual clothing, she tells Kara to go sit with her on the balcony. In front of them is the beautiful night view of Tokyo, but the atmosphere on the balcony is not so pleasant.   
“What did I tell you when I first met you?” Lena breaks the silence first.  
“Never ask why, do whatever Master tells me to do and…never have feelings or get attached to anything or anyone.”  
“So you do remember,” Lena turns around and looks into Kara’s eyes, “I’m only someone who is told to teach you how to kill. And you have to understand, if it is necessary, I’ll kill you without a second thought.”  
“Yes, Master.”  
Kara keeps her head down, still emotionless.  
Lena sigh, “You have followed me for this long now. You should know that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I was just doing what was necessary to complete the mission. You do understand that the longer we stay at the scene, the more dangerous it will get, right?”  
Kara suddenly raises her head, “But he!” Knowing that she is out of line, she takes a deep breath and says, “I understand, Master. But can you stop using seduction in the future?”  
Lena doesn’t answer her question and looks away. Finally, Kara closes her eyes and says quietly, “I understand, Master.”


	3. Chapter 3

3  
The system of having a Master for the rookies is an unspoken rule in the killer business. Before the rookies are capable of going solo, they would always have a Master with them on mission for teaching and protection purposes. If you are lucky, you will get a good Master which will earn you a couple more years of lives; if you are unlucky, you would probably die in just a couple of days.  
When Kara first entered the Arena, she knew the top female killer in her organization, Zero, is Lena. Because she had never failed one single mission. Lena was like a legend, a god that all the rookies wanted as the master. Kara saw her as a God just like everyone else. She had never seen Lena, until the day she got out of the Arena.  
On that day, 16 years old Kara met 20 years old Lena.  
And Lena smiles toward Kara. The God that she once looked up to, smiled to her.  
Lena said, “You are my first apprentice. I hope you are my last one as well.”  
Kara did not have a birthday. So Lena said, “Let’s make today your 16th birthday.”  
Kara did not have a name. So Lena said, “According to your file, your name is Kara but remember, to the outside world, you will go by the codename 09. It represents your ranking in our organization. You will be my first apprentice, and I hope you will be my last.”  
Kara did not know any real fight moves. So Lena said, “I will teach you move by move.”  
See, everything Kara has was given by Lena. But one thing that she doesn’t have is love. She has no family, and love is the only thing that Lena refuses to give her.  
Every time she moves one step closer to Lena, Lena backs away two steps.  
Back and forth. So close, but so far away.  
On her 20th birthday, they just completed a task in a luxurious mansion. On the way back, Lena suddenly asked Kara, “Today is your birthday. Do you have any wishes?”  
Kara bit her lips hard and then she looked at Lena, “Can I…call you by your real name?”  
And then there was silence in the car. After a while, she heard Lena said no.  
From the age of 16 to the age of 20, 4 years. It is enough time for her to turn into a cold killer, enough time to grow up, but not enough time for her to walk into Lena’s heart.  
\------ Then never mind, all of my wishes have your name all over them. But I’m not even in your world yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATED VERSION - changed some minor details.


	4. Chapter 4

4  
“Kara, you stay here. I need to go get our new mission.”  
Usually when they don’t have a mission, Kara and Lena will stay in an abandoned warehouse, all their training equipment and weapons are stored here. The warehouse was like Kara’s nightmare when she was younger because Lena forced her to train until she couldn’t stand up anymore every single day, it was really common for her to go to sleep with bruises and cuts all over her body. But looking back at these days, Kara really wishes to turn back time. She remembers that Lena would laugh at her every time she was defeated; she remembers the feeling of Lena’s fist hitting her body; she remembers Lena’s breathe just inches away from her. Kara sits on the ground and emerges herself into memories.  
There is one thing that haven’t changed though. She is always waiting for her to come back.  
She has never met someone from Zero other than Lena because Lena does all the communications.  
The only thing she has to do is following Lena’s orders and be the sharpest and the most useful knife for her.  
A small smile appears on her face; Kara takes out the knife from the holster and throws it out---the knife breaks the wind and stops firmly at the bull’s eye of the target on the wall.  
“Not bad.” Kara turns her head and then she realizes Lena has stood there for a while now. She is a bit surprised since as an experienced killer, she is supposed to know when someone approaches from the back.   
If Lena was an enemy, she’d probably be dead by now.  
Is it because she never put her guard up for Lena?  
“Your skills are getting better,” Lena casually takes off her jacket and puts her hair into a tight ponytail, “How long has it been since our last close combat exercise?”  
Kara looks surprised, she can feel her heart pounding faster, “Pretty long…couple years, I guess.”  
Lena nods and smiles, “Let’s do it than. Don’t cry if you lose.”  
Feeling her blood heating up, Kara takes a deep breath and looks at Lena in the eyes.  
Suddenly, the whole atmosphere tensed up.  
Lena looks back into Kara’s eyes. It has been a long time since she observes this girl whom she spends every day with this closely. Lena just noticed that how Kara actually looks like a professional killer now.  
Interesting.  
The combat begins suddenly, neither of them is withholding. Muffled sound comes out with every move. The top killer and the top apprentice has exchanged more than 10 moves in just seconds.  
“We have a new mission. The target is with the CIA.”   
“Really? We have to deal with them again?”  
“I will do this mission alone. You stay out of it.”  
They exchange the conversation between moves. Both of them have sweats covering their skin now. One kick, now Kara is on the ground but she jumps right back and she looks at Lena in the eyes.  
Master never changes her decision, but…  
“If I win, let me come.”  
“What? You think you can win?”  
Well, I want to. Kara thought.  
With this deal on the table, both of them are giving all they have. The punches and kicks are harder and with more power. After a while, their breaths start to get heavier and all their clothes are soaked with sweat.  
Suddenly, when Kara tries to punch Lena, she stumbles. And her punch turns into a tear. The shirt that Lena tears revealing large portion of her skin.  
Kara freezes and definitely does not have time to shield Lena’s next punch. She flies all the way to the wall of the warehouse.  
Lena walks to the side of Kara, and smiles, “How about that?”  
Kara’s lips are bleeding but she casually wipes the blood away and jumps up. Lena sees that coming and dodges while doing a sidekick. However, Kara doesn’t dodge like she is supposed to, instead, she grabs Lena’s leg and pushes her back. Lena is caught off balance and falls behind. At that moment, Kara lunges toward her and uses her left arm to hold Lena still while her right arm raises high to prepare for a punch------the punch lands only inches from Lena’s face.  
“How about that?”  
“Well, you improved.” Lena breathes heavily and laughs, “but did you have to try that hard? Look at yourself.”  
Lena stands up and grabs her jacket. She whips her jacket on the back of Kara, and blood sprinkles out Kara’s mouth, “You have to pay for this. If you want in on the mission, rest up and heal. If you perform poorly on the day, I won’t let the CIA capture you alive.”  
“Yes, Master.” Kara barely have the ability to answer.


	5. Chapter 5

Kara looks at her still-bruised body and carefully puts ointment on each bruise. Then puts bandage around it. She has done them so many times that she can perform these tasks with eyes closed.  
“Here is the ticket for Los Angeles.” Lena shows up and gives her the ticket, “Our target is a USB disk. Rumors are the CIA is going to deliver them. We will stop them on the highway, kill the agents and take back the USB disk.”  
“We can stop the car with RPG, then move in to deal with the CIA agents.”  
“Correct, you will cover for me on the side of the highway.”  
“Master!” Kara tries to protest.  
“You haven’t healed properly. I’m making an exception to let you go already.”

On the highway connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles, a motorcade is passing through smoothly. In the front and the back are two black armored Rovers with a Chevrolet in the middle.  
In the Chevrolet, there is hard punk music playing, the driver is singing along with the tune.  
“Hey Trystan, I don’t understand you. You have a partner with such a good music taste, why can’t you just learn from me?” Says the other agent sitting in the shotgun seat. She is carefully cleaning her service weapon; this gun has been with her since she became an CIA agent.  
“I’m a guy, Alex. Why would a grown-up man enjoy listening to Blues? ”  
Alex doesn’t even have the time to reply because a grenade just exploded right in front of their car. Trystan starts to turn the wheels but the car just ends up going off the highway. Within seconds, another missile launches and blows up the armored Rover on the back.  
“Shit!”  
Trystan crawls out of the car, “Alex, are you alright?”  
“Mind your own business!”  
A smoke bomb explodes in front of them, the couple CIA agents who are still alive suddenly scatters out. In the heavy smoke, Alex sees a masked person appear. In seconds, blood is everywhere.  
Kara hides behind a hill, after Lena emerges into the smoke, she can’t see anything. All she can do is wait.  
When the smoke finally dissipates, she sees that most of the agents are dead except for two.  
Alex and Trystan has been partners for years, so for Lena to go against both of them at the same time is still a pretty tough job. When Trystan sees an opportunity, he kicks Lena in the stomach with all his strength. Although Lena shields the kick for a bit, the difference between male and female strength is still there. She ends up on the side of the car that is off the road. Meanwhile, Alex pulls out his gun and shoots for three time. Lena manages to dodge from all three but still got hurt a bit.  
Lena is a bit mad, looks like these two agents actually knows what they are doing. She knows the longer this fight is, the harder it will get. So without hesitant, she does a kill signal with her hand to Kara who has been waiting back there for the whole time.  
Alex and Trystan devotes their whole attention toward Lena, so when they notice something is wrong, it is too late. A flying knife comes from behind and stabs right into Trystan’s head.  
“You bastards!” Alex’s eyes are bloodshot now and she picks up Trystan’s gun and aims at Lena and Kara, who are walking toward her.  
Two was a bit hard, but one is easy now. Lena lunges forward with almost a smile on her face. Kara can tell that Lena is safe now so she runs toward the car and gets the USB stick. Over the radio, she hears some conversation. It seems like more people are on the way.  
Need to finish this fast then. She thinks while loading her gun.  
Alex’s moves are all messed up right now so it is very easy for Kara to find a spot and put the gun to her chest.  
Kara stares at Alex with her cold and emotionless eyes like a predator staring at its prey.  
But Alex’s eyes are filled with shock and surprise. She stares at the killer in disbelief, her gun slips off, and her lips are trembling like she is about to say something.  
The gun goes off.  
The blood-red sun slowly goes down, disappearing at the horizon.


	6. Chapter 6

Lena punches Kara in the face, “Kneel down!”  
Kara kneels down silently, she has been hit for multiple times now. Her blood drips down, drop by drop and soon creates a puddle of redness on the floor.  
“How did you miss at a such short distance!” Lena shouts. Another punch, Kara crumbles down to the ground.  
The warehouse is cold and dark. In the middle of it is a woman with a pair of white gloves and she playfully looks at the scene that is playing in front of her.  
“Lee, I have a suggestion. If that Alex is still alive, she has definitely seen her face which is bad for you.” Her voice is deep, like the aged-wine, “How about you kill her?”  
Lena looks at Kara with angry eyes, “I taught a useless person, it would be too easy if she just dies.”  
“Really? Looks like you have your own teaching ways, Lee. I don’t have to worry then.” The woman stands up and pats Lena’s shoulder, “Since you guys did get the USB stick, I won’t give any kill orders. But if CIA do find out Kara’s identity…You know what has to happen.”  
“Yes. I understand.”  
The woman stands up and smiles. She walks out of the warehouse like nothing happens. And as soon as she leaves, Lena can feel that all the killers who was standing by in the shadow leaves too.  
Her heart relieves a bit.  
“Stand up.” She looks at Kara who is still on the ground.  
Kara uses all her strength and finally gets up. New wounds plus old wounds have taken away all her physical abilities.  
Lena frowns and says, “Tell me, why didn’t you kill her.”  
“…I don’t know.”  
“Really? It looks like you really do want to die.”  
She leaves and Kara is now alone.  
Why? She really doesn’t know. When she fired, her hand moved a bit to the right like instinct, leaving a serious but non-lethal wound. The biggest mistake a killer can make is to leave unwanted trace behind, why did she do that?  
She has asked herself a million times, but there was no answer.  
But she did remember the shock on the agent’s face and her trembling lips. What was she trying to say?  
She is confused, but somehow she has a feeling that she will see that agent again in the future.  
She drags herself upstairs where she and Lena lives. She takes off all her clothes and stands in front of the mirror. There are bruises all over her body to the point that there isn’t one part of her skin that has its original color. Under all the fresh wounds, there are still a lot of visible scars from the past.  
Lena was the cause of eighty percent of them. She gave her the most pain, but the one person she can’t leave, is also Lena.  
She laughs at herself and start to put ointment on her wounds.  
She hears footsteps coming from the staircase. She knows Lena will come back.  
Lena walks behind her and sighs when she sees all these bruises, “Does it hurt?”  
Kara shakes her head, “I know you are trying to teach me a lesson.”  
Lena takes the ointment from her and carefully puts it on to her back, “That woman is X, her real name is Maggie Sawyer but that is a secret only known by the core members of Zero. Since you are my apprentice, it is fine for you to know as well but remember never tell it to anyone else, or the only thing waiting for you, is death. X’s family built Zero and she is the current leader, she treats me alright normally. But you do not want to get on her bad side.”  
“What you did this time is enough for her to kill you. She didn’t do it only because you are lucky today.”  
“I’m sorry, Master.”  
“If you still see me as your Master, then remember, don’t be stupid and survive. Just like I said, I only want one apprentice. So don’t freaking die!”  
Lena leaves right after.  
Kara continue standing in front of the mirror. She hugs herself as if that person is still here.  
On the other side of the city in a pitch black room, a woman glides across the beautiful face on the screen with her white gloved hands.  
“Alex Danvers, interesting,” She takes off her gloves and taps on the screen, “You are the first person to survive an attack from Zero. Whatever the reason was, you’re one interesting girl.”  
“So show me, show me what else you can do.”


	7. Chapter 7

Two months later, Los Angeles  
Alex slowly wakes up from her dream. She just got transferred from ICU to a regular room last night. She stares at the ceiling and thinks about the dream she just had. In her dream, was the emotionless cold eyes of the killer who had held her at gunpoint. The coldness in her eyes was so chilly that made Alex think over and over again: No that couldn’t be her… Something was definitely wrong…  
Alex had a sister once. But during a family outing when she was 15, her sister got lost and no one had seen her ever since.  
Alex and her parents looked all over Los Angeles for her for years, but there was no luck. She remembered her parents turned from full of hope to desperate to eventually hopeless. Everyone thought she was dead because she was just 9 years old when she got lost. But Alex did not give up, her sister was the reason why she went into law enforcement and the reason why she always had a soft spot for young girls.  
She always believed that he would find her sister someday, just never thought they would meet under this circumstance.  
She only saw her for one second, but it was already enough to tell that she is her sister. Probably because of the power of consanguinity.   
But she still refuses to believe that girl who was always chasing him around for candy was capable of turning into a cold killer.  
She can’t get rid of the image of Trystan dying in her mind. How could she do that?  
How could her sister have the capability to kill? Who turned her into a killer?  
Master.  
Yes, it has to be her. The woman who was wearing the mask. Alex’s fists suddenly tighten. Unforgivable! Unforgivable! She will do whatever to bring her sister back from that dangerous woman.

New York City, US  
“Winn, do me a favor, I need to investigate a person.” Lena gives the man standing in front of him an envelope, “X let go of the thing happened last time, but I think Kara is holding something back.”  
“Kara is keeping a secret from you? How is that possible?” Winn laughs. He has a nice build but is not as muscular as the rest of the killers. He opens the envelope and frowns, “CIA? That’s going to be a bit tricky.”  
“It might be for other people. But you are one of the two best hackers in Zero. It should just be a piece of cake for you.”  
“But you know Cisco is resting these days.”   
“You are way too protective of him, Winn. How about I pay him a visit day tomorrow?” Lena says, “Unlike you, he will definitely say yes.”  
“Hey, you’re always taking advantage of him. Don’t bother him, I’ll just help you.”  
Cisco and Winn are partners but unlike other people, they mainly do intelligence collecting, hacking and developing new techs for Zero. Rumors say because Cisco didn’t want to work for Zero anymore but he was too good to let go, he was paralyzed from the waist down by someone under the order of X so that he couldn’t leave Zero.   
After Lena left, Winn walks back to the place where he and Cisco lives. He sees Cisco sitting in a wheelchair in the yard. The sun shines on him softly creating a soft glow around him.  
“Hey Winn.”  
“Hi.” Winn walks toward him and gives him the envelop, “Lee wants to me to look into the same person that X told me to look into two days ago.”  
Cisco hesitates a bit and say, “Well, just investigate like they told you, too. But don’t tell X about Lee.”  
He is always so kind and soft-hearted. So soft-hearted that he is always bullied by this organization. Winn stares at Cisco’s legs and frowns.  
They are way too weak. Too weak to protect themselves from Zero. Winn knows Cisco doesn’t want to be a hacker or develop killing weapons. But that’s the only thing he is allowed to do.


	8. Chapter 8

After two months’ rest, most of the wounds and cuts have recovered for Kara. So now she is back to her regular daily training routine in the warehouse while waiting for Lena to come back.  
She doesn’t like crowded places, because she hates the feeling of being surrounded by people. The only time she is happy when she is out in public is when she goes scouting with Lena.  
She likes the preparation before every assassination because Lena will pretend to be her sister during that period of time. They would go shopping or go to restaurants as if they are real sisters while taking notes for the locations of the cameras and getting familiar with the places.  
“Looks like you are back in the game.”  
Again, quiet and unnoticeable. Kara stops the punches and the kicks and walks toward Lena.  
“Master.”  
“We have a special mission this time. Our target is a famous drug dealer in Mexico with a codename of Coke.”  
“That sounds like a simple mission with a sniper rifle.”  
“The base of operation for this man is in the forest of Mexico. Snipers don’t work well there. We’ll have to infiltrate.” Lena says while turning on her laptop, “Our identity and the map has been sent. Let’s go.”  
As soon as she goes into the deep dark forest, Kara realizes it is very different from their average missions. There are poisonous insects and dangerous animals everywhere, it is very easy to get herself killed let alone assassinating someone else.  
Lena and Kara went in two directions as soon as they got to Mexico just as planned. As of now, Lena has been caught by the guards of Coke because she “accidentally” wandered into the forest. Because she speaks Spanish, it would be very easy for her to blend in. She is now being taken into the core of Coke’s home base with couple of other women who was abducted by the workers of Coke.  
As soon as they get to the village, Lena is being put into a locked cell with all the other women. The smell in the cell makes it very hard for her to sleep. She touches her cochlear implant which is equipped with an intercom function. She hears Kara’s voice as soon as she turns it on, “Master.”  
Lena coughs a little as the response.  
“Glad you are safe.” It is nice to hear Lena’s voice, Kara smiles a bit on the inside and reports, “Your cell is in the middle of their home base. There are 4 guards on the outside, all armed.”  
She hears another cough from Lena.  
“Master?”  
Nothing comes back. She knows that Lena has turned off the intercom.  
The joy and hope she got from talking to Lena suddenly disappears. She is now alone with uncomfortableness and fear, again. She whispers to herself:  
“Master, the forest is so scary. There is no light anywhere.”  
“It would be nice if you can be here…”  
“I miss you.”

 

CIA base, Los Angeles  
As soon as Alex got discharged from the hospital, she goes back to work despite all the opposition. She looks through the entire case file, but all she gets are two names: 05 and 09. Killers for hire. Wanted internationally.  
There is not even a clear photo of them.  
According to the file, it looks like 09 is her sister, Kara. She tightens his grips around the case file and knocks on the office door of his boss, Hank.  
“Sir, I want to take over all the cases relating to 0509.”  
“But you just got discharged…”  
“I insist, Sir.”  
Hank hesitates for a while but eventually nods.  
No one believes that Alex will catch 0509 because they have managed to stay uncaught despite the 2 million bounty on their head. But that doesn’t discourage Alex. She sticks all the things he found on the wall and draws a big circle around Kara.  
“I will definitely bring you back.” She promised herself.  
But, what then? Kara is a killer, a killer that killed her own partner, probably also a killer that wants to kill her.  
And she might end up being the person who sends Kara to court.  
Their lives tangle together like a pile of knotted strings. The more moves you make, the harder it will to untangle.  
Then he hears someone at the door knocking.  
“Are you Alex Danvers?” A muscular and tall man stands at Alex’s door, he walks toward Alex’s desk and extends his hand, “I’m Oliver Queen. I will be your partner from now on. Nice to meet you.”  
New York City  
The woman wearing the white gloves sits elegantly in the leather chair. Her long eyelashes create a piece of shadow on her face under the warm yellow light. Across from her is Winn, who is reporting with his head down.  
“Good job, Winn. You’ve done a good job this time, but leave this alone from now on.”  
“X, Alex is now discharged. I think it’s of our best interest to keep investigating.”  
X crosses her fingers together and smiles softly, “I have my own plans for her. Just leave it.”  
Knowing the fact that no one will know about her plans and it is impossible to change her mind. Winn leaves after giving a USB stick to her. X puts the USB to her laptop as soon as he leaves. In it are photos and a full background check of Alex Danver.  
“Alex… Alex Danvers…You are just as interesting as I expected. Now I really…really want to meet you in person…”


	9. Chapter 9

The Lacadon Jungle, Mexico  
After walking for two days in the deep jungle of Mexico without any water supply, Kara finally reaches a place that looks like a village. The village is surrounded by seas of poppy followers. So beautiful yet so poisonous. There are several bites from some poisonous bugs on Kara’s legs. The itchy feelings make it hard to stand let alone walk, but Kara pushes forward with Lena in her mind. She leaves markings on the trees along the way while keeping an eye on Lena. She notices the guards kept taking detours and using anti-tracking techniques, no wonder the police couldn’t find the base.  
With some careful observations, Kara believes that this village is probably not the actual base of operation for Coke based on the population of the village and the size of the drug cartel. It seems like the real base is somewhere even deeper in the jungle.  
Lena, along with other women who were kidnapped by the cartel, are being brought to a vacant land in the middle of the village. The villagers start picking out women as if they were merchants picking out fruits. Suddenly, the village is filled with profane languages, the laughs of men, and the screams from those women. Lena is pulled out by a middle-aged man, who proceeds to kiss her as soon as he grabs her. Just as Kara is about to break her cover and save Lena from this disgusting man, another man stopped the previous man.  
According to the translator embedded in her cochlear implant, the man said that Lena is the most beautiful one out of the whole bunch so she should be saved for the boss.  
Lena lets out a relieved sigh and thanks her parents for a beautiful appearance for the first time.  
She is not the only one that is relieved. Kara finally loosens her tightened fist. Good thing she didn’t just run out there, or else the mission would have blown immediately. But then she thinks, if something did happen to Lena, then she would have the village die for it without a second thought.  
After traveling for another few days, they finally arrive at the real base of operations --- a luxurious mansion in the deepest corner of the jungle. The mansion is three-stories high with multiple layers of security measures guarding the main infrastructure. Kara takes notes of each guard post and each surveillance camera on a tree just outside of the perimeter, while Lena is being brought to a small cell blindfolded.  
When Lena is finally able to see again, she hears the keys jingle as the guard locks her cell from the outside. She looks around and sees a bed, a small window, a toilet, and a surveillance camera on the corner of the ceiling. There’s for sure no easy way out, Lena thinks. But she still takes a deep breath and lies down on the bed pretending to be as calm as possible. She closes her eyes and starts to draw a map of the place based on her memories, although her eyes were blindfolded, her hearing and muscles remained alert the whole time. She opens her eyes and casually moves to an angle where the camera can’t see her. She touches her ear and whispers, “We have one minute. Debrief me.”  
Kara replies instantly, “You are in a three-stories high building with bulletproof glass. The guards change shift every two hours, but judging by their movements, they are amateurs at best. According to my infrared camera, most people are gathered on the second floor, and only some are on the third floor.”  
“OK, I think I’m in the basement, but it shouldn’t be a problem. I can handle it.”  
“There are couple of cars parked on the outside. I think they are here for business.” Kara says quietly, “Be careful, Master. I feel like this might be a dangerous one.”  
“Which of our assignments isn’t? Gotta go, someone’s here.”  
A guard opens the door and drops a bowl of food on the ground and closes the door again. How odd, Lena thinks. She smells food to make sure it’s not poisonous and proceeds to eat it.  
Nothing exciting happens for the next three days, Lena would tamper the camera everyday for 30 minutes or so and do recon at night in the house. The whole building looks like a maze, she is almost sure that she covered all the corners, yet she failed to locate Coke, not even a glimpse.  
It just doesn’t make any sense, Lena thinks. Coke is just the head of a drug cartel, how come he is so good at hiding? But given her current dangerous situation, all she can do is to wait for an opportunity.  
On the fourth evening, a man in mask opens the door right after Lena’s daily communication with Kara, he pushes Lena to the second floor and finally, Lena understands why Kara said most people are on the second floor. A chaotic party is going on in the great hall on the second floor. She can see the white smokes caused by a mixture of weed, cocaine and meth from meters away. Men and women are dancing hysterically in the mist, and the man in the mask soon joins the crowd. Lena carefully stays near the wall, trying her best to stay away from the mist. Most people are only half-dressed and high on drugs. Although Lena has been through drug training before, the mixture of human odours and the strong smell of heroine is giving her a severe headache. She tries her best to locate Coke, but one face after another flashes through her eyesight, and Coke is nowhere to be found.  
Her stomach finally gives up on her as she throws up in the corner, but this does help her regain her alertness for a little. If Coke isn’t here, then this party might be a trap...The alarm in her heart rings, as she realize that she, despite all her effort, stepped right into a well-designed trap.  
Before she can do anything, she is hit with a blunt object at the back of her head, and she passes out.  
Lena wakes up from the feeling of ice cold water dripping from her body and finds herself in another room, possibly on the third floor of the building. The hideous smell is no longer there, but she sees three other people kneeling on the group just like her. And in the middle of the room, is Coke and a short yet strong woman standing next to him.  
Thousands of scenario is running through Lena’s head as she tries to find the most efficient way to kill Coke and get herself out of the scenario with minimum casualty. Coke doesn’t seem to be that big of a threat physically, but who is that woman? She doesn’t remember Zero’s mission brief package mentioning a woman.  
“Lucy, you said someone here is undercover. None of them seems like a trained assassin, though.”  
“You don’t believe me?” The woman, Lucy, stares back at Coke.  
“Of course not. If it wasn’t for your help, I wouldn’t have been this successful. I trust you more than anyone in the world.”  
Lena remains emotionless to protect her cover, but there is a storm going on in her mind. How is it possible? She was so careful on the way in. How did this Lucy know about her mission?  
“These four were the only ones that didn’t use anything in that party. So one of them definitely has a separate agenda.” Lucy smiles at the four people kneeling on the group, “Is one of you gonna tell me the truth, or should I make you say it?”  
Suddenly, the room is filled with people begging for mercy and trying to prove their innocence.  
A cold sweat flows down her forehead. This Lucy definitely complicates the situation. The security measure and the tactics must have came from Lucy, making Lena unsure of what to do.  
“Seems like no one wants to take the blame.” Lucy motions at one of the people standing in the back and he brings up a tray with four syringes filled with light yellow liquid, “Well then, it’s time for all of you to show your royalty. I made this myself, highly concentrated methamphetamine. I can assure you that you would never want to leave after one dose.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments for improvements and I will adjust the story accordingly in the future!!
> 
> Thanks for the support and buckle-up for a bumpy ride:) - T


	10. Chapter 10

Kara’s heart suddenly stopped for a second and a worried feeling starts to spread inside her. She turns on her infrared binoculars to check for any anomaly in the building and what she sees makes her heart pound even faster. There are couple people kneeling in the middle of the third floor with a circle of guns pointing at them and guards are guarding every single exit of the building. She knows instantly that something is wrong and her brain goes to the worst scenario possible: Lena has been made.  
Kara’s breath quickens and there are sweats sinking through her palms. Her binoculars fail to give her a clear visual of what is going on in the room and she worries any carelessness will make the situation even worse. So all she can do is to keep an eye on the situation and starts to count and prep her weapons.  
Due to the special geographical environment, all she brought are a 9mm S&W pistol, a SMG, the two grenades attached to her belt, and the tactical knife that she has with her at all times. Lena, on the other hand, did not bring any weapon. Yet she is surrounded by so many people. The thought makes Kara shiver.  
Please, please be safe!  
While in the building…  
“Stooooop!!! Please!!! I’m begging you!!” The first victim of the drug starts rolling on the ground with his head pounding on the ground. All the nerves on his neck pop out as if they are about to burst. He is no longer a human, but an animal controlled by his own primal desires.  
He keeps seizing on the ground while all the others are gasping in fear. But Lucy, on the other hand, seems to be enjoying this development.   
That Lucy, is definitely crazy… A dangerous and cold heart under that angelic face, just like the poppy flowers blossoming outside.  
“How about now? Any volunteers?”  
The other two are overtaken by fear by now and all they can do is begging and begging for mercy. Lena’s heart sinks to the bottom of her stomach, she knows she has to do something or else everyone will end up dead in a matter of minutes, including herself. There is no one to blame but her own carelessness. She was too busy focusing on Coke to the point that she ignored someone this dangerous. All she can do now is to get the message to Kara and join forces with her. Her chances of completing the mission and getting out in one piece are a lot better with Kara helping her.   
“Admit it! You are the spy! You look sketchy as hell! Just admit it before you get us all killed!” Lena suddenly starts to shout and point at the woman next to her.   
“Shut up, bitch!” The woman is surprised and scared at the same time. “Do not point fingers when you look more sketchy yourself!” And she pushes Lena to the ground with her whole body. Here comes the opportunity that Lena has been waiting for. She uses the ground to activate the communicator in her ear.  
Suddenly, all sorts of noises rush into Kara’s ear and out of them, Kara hears the command that she has been longing for, “Move.”  
Kara rushes out from her cover and infiltrates the infrastructure like a ghost. Quiet but effective.  
The whole building turns into a chaotic mess with gunshots and screams coming from every corner of the house. Lena spits out the blade that she was hiding in her mouth this whole time. She cuts the rope that was binding her foot and wrists and starts to kill. Her moves are swift and elegant as if she is dancing instead of killing.  
Guns are the most ineffective weapon in close quarter combat, but the amateurs clearly don’t know that. In between the flashes of gunshots, Lena skillfully slices the throats of the guards one by one.   
Coke is clearly stunned by Lena’s skills. He proceed to hide behind Lucy, “What should we do? Just kill her already!”  
Lucy doesn’t seem to care about his fear. She pushes his body away from hers and says, “Get away from me, stupid. Can’t you see that I’m very engaged in watching this fight?” Seeing his best “man” refuses to help him, Coke proceeds with his plan B and decides to try and sneak out from the back door. But his huge body isn’t exactly helping him as Lena rushes in front of him and puts the blade just inches from his throat:  
“Everyone freeze. NOW!”  
With the intensive fight that just went down and the aftereffect of the drug fumes, Lena suddenly feel a bit lightheaded but she tries her best not to show it.  
“Must be feeling a bit exhausted, aren’t you?” Lucy makes a sarcastic smile with her perfectly shaped lips.  
“...” Lena stares at Lucy angrily but fail to form a response.  
“How did you find your food these past few days? I added a special ingredient just for you. Aww, no thank you? Relax, it’s not poison. Not by itself anyway. But mix it with all the fumes you inhaled in the party, a beautiful reaction is happening in your body right now. How amazing is chemistry, right?”  
“Who...are you?”  
Lucy pretends to be hurt by these words, “Aww...I left so many hints for you. Yet you still don’t know my identity. I’m truly hurt, Lena Luthor.”  
Lena’s eyes expand as she hear her real identity, which causes another chuckle to escape from Lucy’s mouth, “Surprise, surprise. I know all about you, Lena. How? Well, that’s my little secret. But since we have our famous 05 from Zero here, then your lovely apprentice 09 AKA Kara must be nearby, right? I am for sure looking forward to meet her.”  
“Who the hell are you? Tell me the truth or your boss here dies.” Lena puts the blade even closer to Coke’s throat.  
“Oh, honey. He is not my boss. If you want to kill him, be my guest.” Lucy resumes her cold expression, “But I did leave something good for your favorite buddy, Kara, outside. What if something happens to her?”  
“Wha…?”  
In that moment of distraction, Lucy takes out her own pistol and shoots Coke in the knee. Coke kneels down as his knees buckle which causes Lucy to put two more bullets in his heart. His fall makes Lena lose balance for just a second, but it is enough for Lucy to sprint next to her and pushes the light yellow liquid into Lena’s left shoulder.  
“Haha, gotcha! I was just kidding about the present, by the way.” Lucy smiles and says excitedly as Lena falls to the ground.  
This is what Kara sees as she enters the room:  
“Master!!!”  
She rushes toward Lena catching her just before Lena’s head hits the ground.  
“What did you do to her?” She screams to Lucy.  
“Nice to meet you, too, Kara. I would suggest that the optimal thing for you to do is to say goodbye to your dear master. It would be a true tragedy if you don’t even get to do that.” Lucy casually walks toward the exit and kills another guard on her way out, “Don’t worry, I won’t bother you. I have a honor code to uphold, just like you. You see, I’m a killer, too. Unfortunately, we are not on the same side, though. I’m not from Zero. The people that I work for would love to see the infamous 0509 die but I don’t. I think it’s much more interesting if I just leave you be. Enjoy her last moments with her, because I can guarantee you, it’s really better for her to die than to suffer.”  
Kara looks down at Lena, who is clearly suffering from lots of pain as sweats fall from her forehead and her fists banging the floor, Kara shoots her head back up at Lucy, “What the hell did you give her? Give me the cure now, or I will kill you!”  
“Oh, come on. You are too weak to kill me. And there’s no cure, honey. It’s just highly concentrated drug. Got to go, but maybe I will catch you later, Kara. Oh, I almost forgot, since your master might not able to get the chance to tell you, my name is Lucy, Lucy Lane. Keep it in your heart and remember to come and find me for revenge! Bye~”  
She throws a flash bang behind and disappears from the exit.


	11. Chapter 11

When Winn finds Kara and Lena in that jungle, Lena has already fallen into a deep coma and Kara was barely wearing everything with wounds and cuts covering her skin. The infamous killer duo 0509 was not visible, instead, all that is left are just two broken bodies and souls.  
Lena is sent to the best hospital under Zero immediately to receive medical attention while Kara refuses to leave or rest as Lena’s surgery drag on. Winn sits down next to Kara and says,  
“I looked that Lucy Lane up. Her specialty is killing people with toxins and chemicals. She is the daughter of General Lane in the US Army. But her family does own an assassin organization in the dark, called Lane Estate. It’s a much smaller and weaker organization compared to Zero. So X believes Lucy Lane did the whole thing out of her own will instead of under her father’s order.”  
“Where is her now? I’m going to kill her.”  
“She usually stays at the Lane Estate headquarters in Chicago. It’s one of the most secure places in the USA. And you can’t kill her, Kara. Not yet. You’re not skilled and strong enough. You are just going to kill yourself by going there.” Winn sighs. He knows how hard this must for Kara going through something like that but he can’t just let her go and do something stupid.   
“So you expect me to just sit here and do nothing?!” Kara stands up angrily and here eyes are completely bloodshot. She is shivering from head to toe right now, and she cannot even begin to imagine what she is going to do if Lena doesn’t make it.  
“Calm down!” Winn puts his hand on Kara’s shoulders, “Think of Lena and what she wants you to do right now. At this stage, all we can do is pray for her to make it out of the surgery alive…”  
And to return to her original state and abilities. Winn doesn’t finish the last part of the sentence. It is too cruel for him to tell Kara that Zero won’t allow a vulnerable or weak assassin to live, let alone stay in the organization. If Lena won’t be able to execute missions like she used to, then death, is the only thing waiting for her in the future.

CIA Base, Los Angeles  
The whole base is filled with happiness and cheers because they successfully took down the drug cartel led by the infamous Coke in Mexico. It’s a big win for not only the CIA, but also the war on drugs as that cartel is one of the biggest drug importer in the USA. But little do they know, the truth is not that pleasant after all.  
Most higher level agents know CIA got a easy prize because when they arrived at the scene, most members were either dead or heavily injured. The surveillance footage was incomplete and tampered with by professionals. So someone was trying to hide something. Alex Danvers looks at the mission report over and over again but she fail to find any abnormalities. Yet her gut tells her that 0509 has something to with this.  
“Hey Oliver, can you ask for the forensic report for the crime scene, preferably get me the ballistics report? I want to compare it to the highway incident.”  
“On my way.”  
It has been a while since Alex and Oliver first became partners. They are quite an efficient pair thanks to Oliver’s outstanding physical capabilities and Alex’s brilliant mind.   
After Oliver brings in the reports, they start to study them one by one. Comparing ballistics is a tedious and boring job but they both know the importance of this case. In the end, the hard work pays off as Alex finds the matching ballistic from the scene and 09’s gun from the highway.   
“This ballistic report proves that 09 was there, so it’s safe to assume that 05 was there, too. But there is a second ballistic that didn’t match either 09 or 05’s ballistics statistics. Is there a new player in town?” Oliver draws a big question mark beside the second report.  
“I heard there was someone who died a horrible death. The coroner said the cause of death was overdose from a highly concentrated drug. A kind that has never before seen in the market or anywhere in the world.” Alex recalls overhearing the FBI director talking to the field coroner.   
Oliver thinks for a while and says, “speaking of drugs…” He turns around and starts typing on the laptop behind him. A female profile pops up:  
Lucy Lane.  
“This is the daughter of General Sam Lane. She is an assassin in the alleged organization called Lane Estate which belongs to her family. She has about 100 drug related murder allegations against her so she keeps quite a high profile unlike the Zero assassins. But these allegations were never proven because of her father’s political powers. And what happened in Mexico fits her usual MO.”  
Another assassin? Alex frowns. What is up with this world?  
“Well, we proved what we were trying to prove. So let’s call it a day. Wanna go grab a cup of coffee? I know a place.” Oliver smiles.  
Alex sighs deeply because there is still so much to do, but her brain can’t take anymore worries right now. So she changes into casual clothes and follows Oliver into a cafe. It’s a small cafe with about 4 or 5 booths but the place is nicely decorated to provide a cozy and comfortable atmosphere. A blonde lady with glasses walks out from behind the counter to welcome them as soon as they walk in. Her eyes curves when she smiles and her dimple just makes her so likable.  
“Oh hey Oliver, and you are?”  
“She’s my friend, Alex Danvers.” Oliver introduces Alex to the lady, “And this is the cafe owner, Felicity Smoak.”  
Alex greets Felicity with a warm smile as Felicity leads them to a booth. “Same thing, Oliver?”  
“Yeah, same thing.”  
After Felicity leaves to prepare their orders, Alex pokes and teases Oliver, “What is up, man? Is she gonna be your special someone? I see the way you look at her.”  
“No, what? I just come here for coffee often. And I always order a double espresso so she just remembers my order. That’s it.” Oliver tries to act as calm as possible but Alex can see a faint blush on his face. After getting used to his fierce fighting face, Alex does not think this man is capable of blushing. But seems like love does amazing and weird things to people.  
“Well, you guys seems very close for a owner and a customer.” Alex carries on her tease.  
“I just know her name, that’s it.”  
“Why, man? You should kiss the girls that you want to kiss.”  
“You know our job description, Alex. Guys like me just can’t afford romance. Who knows what will happen to me tomorrow?” Oliver replies sadly as he look at the busy barista.  
Alex feels a bit blue after hearing Oliver’s reply but she completely understand the feeling. As CIA agents, they are forced to lead a dangerous and unstable life. And a normal life is just a luxury that they cannot afford.  
Felicity brings their orders on a tray and since they are the only customers in the cafe. She sits down at the booth with them and starts chatting with them. Alex learns that Felicity majored in Computer Science at Harvard and this cafe is just a side gig for her as she is a full-time manager at Google. Felicity is quite humorous and Alex finds herself laughing uncontrollably at her jokes. She hasn’t felt that comfortable and relaxed ever since her encounter with Kara, but at the same time, she feels sorry for Oliver because she believes that something truly beautiful could’ve come out of those two.   
But like Oliver said, people like themselves, just don’t get the girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments for improvements and I will adjust the story accordingly in the future!!
> 
> Thanks for the support and buckle-up for a bumpy ride:) - T


	12. Chapter 12

Zero Hospital, Location Unknown  
“Let me in! Why am I not allowed to see her?! I want to see her!”  
“No, sorry. She doesn’t want to see you at this moment.”  
“Why….why? Why?” Kara is on the verge of a meltdown right now as she tries to bypass Winn and go into Lena’s hospital room. “Master! Master! Move or I will make you move!”   
“Enough!”  
Lena’s voice comes out of the room silencing Kara. Everything falls quiet again and Lena can hear Kara is trying her best to control her emotions.  
“Go home, Kara.”  
“Master, can I just see you for one second… I promise, just one second. I will leave right after that, I promise. I just want to make sure you are OK.” Kara begs, “Why won’t you let me see you? Is it because I couldn’t protect you back there? I’m sorry, Master. But please…”  
“It’s not about you…Uh…”  
\--This failure, is all my fault. It failed because of my own carelessness. I am the one that was responsible. Not you, Kara.   
But Lena can’t finish the sentence as the desire rises from the bottom of her stomach once again. The strong desire for more drugs that is driving her insane. Her body quivers uncontrollably and she summons her last bit of logic and shouts,  
“Go back to the warehouse, Kara. If you come in now, you will no longer be my apprentice.”  
“Master…”  
“LEAVE!!!”  
Winn peaks into the ward and looks back at Kara, who is kneeling in front of him crying. He sighs and hits Kara on the back of her neck. And he calls for someone to bring Kara back to his place.  
Winn opens the door to Lena’s room. She has lost at least 10 pounds since that day and there are dark circles around her eyes from the lack of sleep and the exhaustion from fighting the drug withdrawal.   
“Lee, she’s gone…”  
“Ok...good….Ah….no….” Another round of urge arises, even stronger than the one before. Lena just can’t take it anymore. “Give me more….I need….I need more drugs….please….”  
Winn sighs and picks up the syringe on the desk next to her. Inside the syringe is a small amount of heroine in case it becomes impossible for Lena to resist the withdrawal. But just as he is about to insert the heroine into Lena’s IV bag, she re-opens her eyes:  
“Wait….stop….I can’t….for Kara….I can’t…..no….no….”she breathes heavily.  
“Lee, you can’t do this to yourself. Let’s just take it slow and one step at a time, OK? Kara wouldn’t want to see you suffer like this”  
“Ka...Kara….I can’t….just….kill….me….Winn….Just kill me….please….It hurts ….too much….” Lena feels like as if there are millions of insects crawling in her body and she just cannot see any hope anymore.  
“Lena!!” Winn forces her to look at him in the eyes and says, “You can’t die! What would happen to Kara if you die?! Do you want her to go on a suicide mission to kill Lucy Lane?! You have to pull through, Lena! You have to!”  
Her body finally stops seizing and she passes out because of the exhaustion. Her wrists and ankles have turned bloody due to the friction with the restraints. Winn sighs and a tear falls from his eyes. He has never see Lena like this before. In his memories, Lena was always confident and invincible, like a true goddess. But even like this, Winn has to admit she truly has an unbreakable will.   
No one can resist the urges created by drugs at this concentration. Yet, Lena has once again proven nothing is impossible.

Winn & Cisco’s condo, Los Angeles  
Kara opens her eyes slowly and sees a young man staring at her beside her. Her body reflexes alert her brain immediately as she jumps up into a fighting stance.  
“Hey hey hey. You’re ok. Calm down. My name is Cisco Ramon and I am a friend to both Winn and Lena.” He flashes a warm smile at Kara.  
“I’m going to the hospital.”   
“I wouldn’t do that. Lena won’t let you see her.” Cisco rolls his wheelchair and puts Kara back to bed. “You are both weak and need resting. So how about we wait a while?”  
He picks up the cup of water on the nightstand and hands it to Kara, “you are still so young yet you have to suffer so much...I’m sorry about what happened back there.”  
“....” Kara takes water but stays silent.  
“The reason Lena doesn’t want to see you is not because she doesn’t like or care for you. If she lets you see her suffer, you will feel worse and suffer even more. It’s her way of protecting you.”  
“I never think that Master doesn’t like me. But I always feel like as if we are worlds apart. I try my best to close that gap, yet she just keep backing away.”  
“No, Kara. Trust me. She cares for you, even more deeply than you can imagine.”  
“How do you know that?”  
“Because Lena was, once upon a time, an apprentice, too. She also had a master and she had a similar experience with him as you are with her now back then.” Cisco recalls, “Now I guess Lena can finally understand why he did what he did back then.”  
“Who is this person? I’ve never heard Master talk about him.”  
“Well, he is long gone. There’s no point to linger on the past.” Cisco smiles bitterly and tucks Kara in, “Ok. That’s it for today’s bed story. Go to sleep and have some rest. I will check on you tomorrow.”


	13. Chapter 13

Is it morning or night? What date is it? Lena ponders as she opens her eyes. It feels like her head is filled with all the stars in the universe and someone is waving at her at the end of the horizon. She shakes her head to shake away the hallucinations and sees the usual pale white ceilings. Her headache is still overpowering her body and the urges, while not as often as before, still consume her from time to time. Her wrists and ankles are covered with thick bandages to protect them from the restraints.  
“How are you feeling today, Lena?” Winn walks in with a cup of water. “Kara is constantly asking for permission to see you.”  
“Do you really think I can let her see me like this? Weak and useless.”  
“I have to admit, you are even worse than your brother years ago. It’s true about what they say, a master defines their apprentice.” Winn teases, “Yet I remember you were constantly complaining to us about how your master is cold and doesn’t feel like your real brother.”  
“He’s gone and there’s no point in talking about him.”  
“Are you still blaming yourself?” Winn looks at her deeply.  
“I said stop.”  
Lex was the infamous 02 back in his days. He is the second best killer in Zero with a mission success rate at 100%. Not a lot of people know this, but he was not only Lena’s master, but also her brother. His face and words continue to taunt her even until this day.  
Lex seldomly smiles yet he demands her to smile all the time ----during her training; during her mission; even when she pulled the trigger to end other people’s lives.  
How can she smile at times like that? But she was forced to until it became a habit.  
Lena reckons the blurry figure at the end of the horizon must be him then. Are you here to take me away, Lex?  
\---- But I can’t go right now. I have so many things to do and there is someone eagerly waiting for me. I have to stay. Sorry, Master.

Lane Estate, Chicago  
X is sitting in the visiting room in the Lane Estate base with a neutral face. If you look closely, you can even see a hint of smile on her face. Sam Lane, on the other hand, is kneeling down on the floor looking like he is fearing for his life. Beside him is his daughter, Lucy Lane, who keeps a disobedient face on despite her kneeling position.  
“I’m sorry, X. I didn’t teach my daughter properly about manners and respect. Lucy, apologize to X for your rudeness.”  
“Being a killer is all about fair game. I already showed courtesy by not killing her. So don’t blame me if your killers are just incompetent.”  
“Shut up!” Sam Lane’s face grows darker by the second. Poison and chemicals are a great way to kill one or two targets in secret. But Lane Estate is still a very small organization compared to Zero. He knows if this X decides to put in a kill order for him and his daughter, it would be as easy as killing a bug for her.  
“It’s ok. Your daughter is still fairly immature. So let’s just hash this out between adults. Here is a contract that will allow your daughter to redeem her mistake by serving under me. For five years, she will have to finish whatever jobs I give her without failures. Or else, you know what will happen to her and Lane Estate.”  
“Yes, X. Whatever you desire.”  
Lucy is so furious on the floor that she jumps up and tries to tear the contract apart. But she is knocked down by her father. But X does not even bat an eye. She doesn’t care how resilient Lucy is because she knows Sam Lane would say yes to the deal. Arrogance is the biggest flaw in a killer, so she is helping the Lane Estate in a sense. Moreover, she is Maggie Sawyer, the leader of Zero, and she will not allow failure to happen  
When she leaves the Lane Estate, the time is already 3 o’clock in the afternoon. She opens her email casually in her car and sees a long-waited email lying there. She smiles and looks outside the car window. Her deep dimples flashing under the sunshine.  
“Looks like I have to move the plan along earlier than usual.” She whispers to herself.

Cisco&Winn's apartment  
Although the time is approaching midnight, Cisco is not surprised to see X standing in front of his door. He rolls his wheelchair and opens the door, “It is a little late to drop by for a cup of tea, isn’t it? X.”  
“Well, you know I’m more of a night person, Cisco.” Maggie taps Cisco on the shoulder. Despite her cold and harsh appearance to the outside world, she is typically softer to the core members of Zero. She views them as family members that mutually protects each other. So as long as they stay loyal and effective, she generally cuts them a bit of slack. She sometimes is torn between her duties to Zero and her personal entanglement with the core members, but she knows Zero has to come first. This priority made her make some tough decisions, including what happened to Cisco’s legs. She knows these actions make the people closest to her fear her and unable to communicate with her like a friend, but she also knows what will happen if Zero loses its authority as the best and biggest assassin organization in the US.  
“Can you decrypt this for me?”She says as she hands a micro USB card to Cisco.  
He takes the card and inserts it to his laptop. Lines of codes flashes in front of his eyes as he quickly examines them.  
“It is heavily encrypted so it might take a few days. Come back in three days or so.”  
“Sure, it’s not like I need it immediately…”  
Her words are cut off by another voice, “Cisco, do we have a visitor?”  
Kara comes up from the basement in her gym clothes. Her sweat glistening in the pale white lighting and her breaths slightly elevated. But she freezes as soon as she sees the woman that taunted Lena into beating her nearly to death last time. Maggie looks up at Kara as the hint of smile from her previous conversation disappears and she puts on that cold expression once again.  
“Oh, Cisco...I see you guys are on a first name basis now.” She walks toward Kara and kicks her in the back of her knees. Kara falls to the ground in a kneeling position.  
“Your master is still lying in the hospital, and yet here you are, looking all casual and comfortable.” She looks down on Kara, “Did you get trained in a greenhouse or what? How come you can’t even protect your master? I even feel sorry for Lee for having you as her incompetent apprentice.”  
“She’s trying her best, X.” Cisco tries to ease the situation, but his words are rebutted by a glare from Maggie, “Did I tell you to speak?”  
She turns back to Kara and takes out a white envelope, “You already failed once by letting that CIA agent live; and yet you failed again in that Mexico jungle. Normally, I wouldn’t allow a failure like yourself exist in Zero. But since Lena likes you so much and I still want her to serve Zero, I will give you a third and final opportunity. Here is your first solo mission, do not disappoint me, or else I will make sure Lena dies with you, as well.”  
Kara picks up and opens the envelope. She glances as the mission brief and wrinkles the paper with shear anger and shock, “What? You want me to pair up with Lucy Lane? The person that single handedly put Lena in that much pain? You want me to be her partner instead of killing her? Are you out of your mind?”  
The atmosphere suddenly freezes as an absolute silence is formed. No one in Zero dares to talk to X like that, not even the core members, let alone an apprentice. Cisco looks at Kara worriedly -- a girl that has such anger management issues and the courage to talk to X like this, is surely to immature for an organization like Zero.  
“Listen to me carefully, 09. Your master and yourself are just weapons to me. If one goes dull, I have plenty to replace either of you.” X walks up to Kara and pinches her jaw and her voice cold like ice, “and I see that Lena clearly didn’t teach you about proper respect and etiquette. How dare you talk to me like that?”  
She adds more force to her fingers as Kara cries out at the excruciating pain. She quickly dislodges Kara’s jaw, which strips Kara of her ability to speak, and drops her to the floor. Maggie takes off her white gloves that is slightly dirtied by Kara’s sweat as a person emerges from the dark and gives her a new pair.  
“Now I hope you learn how to listen properly. I don’t care if you agree or not, this mission is a signed deal so you have to do it no matter what. Again, I do not tolerate another failure from you, or else you and your master has to die. Do you understand?”  
Kara nods with great pain and Maggie turns around to walk toward the exit. She stops at the door and says, “Lena may have taught you the physical aspects of being an assassin, but you clearly haven’t learned about the essence, which is the mental aspect. You are nothing without your master. So treat this mission as a learning tool and prove to me that you are still salvageable.”  
But to be honest, Maggie wouldn’t kill Kara for real because her presence became incredibly important after she learned the relationship between Kara and Alex Danvers. And this is also why Kara has to be the one to execute this mission --- She wants to put Kara right in front of Alex, like a childish prank and see how Alex reacts to this first present from her.  
Kara continues in that kneeling position for a long time, even after X leaves the house. Cisco relocates her jaw and asks her if she is ok, but she remains silent.  
For Kara, this pain is no big deal but that conversation did remind her of a fact that she ignored for a long time. She is too weak, and just like X said, she is nothing without Lena. She has never gone on a solo mission, and has no connection to the real world. The only person that she is truly close to, is Lena. If Lena leaves too, then she would have nothing left.  
This version of her is worth nothing and cannot do anything. She can’t even kill someone that she truly wants to kill.  
She finally realizes that, she has always only lived under Lena’s protection. Lena did gave her countless scars and traumas, but she also gave her the same amount of protection and care in return. Her nails sink into her palms as she starts to sob.  
The connection that she desired so much from Lena has always been there, even though it’s nearly transparent. It may not be romantic love, or even personal preference. It may purely be the care a master has for their apprentice. But it was there all along. Yet she ignored it and complained about it for the longest time.  
Lena has loved her this whole time, just not in a way that is visible to Kara.  
“Kara?” Cisco asks worriedly.  
“It’s ok... I’m fine...I will do this mission.” She un-wrinkles the mission briefing and makes a promise to herself. It is time for her to reverse the roles. It is time for her to stand in front of her master and protect her from all the harm and darkness of the world, just like Lena did for her for the past 3 years.  
Even though this means that she has to work with the person she hates the most in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the support, kudos, and comments! It means a lot to me:)
> 
> And for all the Sanvers fan out there, a Sanvers centric chapter is coming up real soon.
> 
> So stay tuned...
> 
> \---T


	14. Chapter 14

CIA Base, Los Angeles  
“Hey Oliver, are you leaving early to get coffee again?”   
Alex looks at Oliver teasingly as he puts on his jacket. She hasn’t stopped doing this ever since they first go to Felicity’s cafe. Oliver shoots back a you-are-weird look back at Alex.  
“It’s not like the office needs me here. We’ve clearly hit a wall with 0509 so grabbing a coffee is a perfectly natural thing to do. Wanna come along, too? Felicity mentioned she likes to chat with you.”  
“Maybe next time. Hank needs me in his office in 5 minutes. Enjoy your not-romantic meeting with Felicity!” Alex smiles.  
Oliver sighs and leaves the office. Alex is now alone in the office. She walks up to the mission board where all the information they have on 0509 and Zero is put up in chronological order. Last week, a witness came forward saying he saw to woman leaving the jungle, one of which seems to have suffer some serious injury. But no one has seen them ever since, it is as if they just vanished into thin air. Who is the one that got injured? Alex can’t help but wonder. Is it Kara? Is she OK? Alex has never felt this helpless and in pain for the past 11 years. She wants to know how her sister is doing but she can’t and don’t know where to ask; she wants Kara back in her life but she knows that Kara would need to be tried for all the crimes she committed. She has already started to plot how to prove Kara is innocent, but whenever she does so, Trystan’s face just keep flashing in front of her.   
“Agent Danvers.”  
“Yes, sir.” Alex puts all the thoughts aside and walks toward Hank’s office. She is still a CIA agent so she needs to focus on the task at the hand instead of worrying about the future.  
Hank is standing next to his desk with a binder in his hands. His eyebrows are pinched together with worries and anger.  
“We’ve received intel from a credible source that Zero is going to jeopardize our prisoner transfer. These two prisoners are part of an important witness-protection program so we cannot lose these two. I need you to make sure of that.”  
“Is it going to be 0509?”  
“We don’t know yet. But these two has done deals with Zero so Zero would do whatever they can to make sure they die. Maybe we can even get intel on that mysterious X.”  
All the Zero assassin has a number as their code name. They are ranked from best to worst with its best as 01. The apprentice system makes sure the apprentice will eventually inherit their master’s codename when the master dies. The top 10 killers are all mysteries to the government authorities as all of their real names and appearances remain hidden. Out of all of them, 01, AKA X, is the most mysterious. All CIA has on her is that this person inherited Zero from their family. They never do the killings themself so they do not have a criminal record. Even if one day someone IDs this person, the state will have no proof to prosecute. So this X is truly a demon disguised as an angel.  
“Alex, this mission is highly classified. So we are the only two people that is going to know the strategic plan. I will let you know the actual date and location of the operation ahead of time, but be prepared.”  
They proceed to discuss the best strategic deployment from the car route to where the snipers should station. When they finally finish, the last bit of sunlight has left Los Angeles. Alex changes into her gym clothes and running shoes as she prepares to go to the gym that is couple blocks away from the base before she go home.   
The streets are quiet as the base is in the suburbs instead of in the city. She chooses to run to the gym instead of driving as a warmup for her workout. She puts on the hood of her jacket and puts on her earbuds as they fill her world with relaxing music. She takes a deep breath and starts to pick up her pace.  
“Help! Someone help me! Please!”  
Alex suddenly hear a scream from a dark alleyway. Her sense of justice arises and she walks into the alley. She sees a group of men surrounding a girl in the back corner. There are tears streaming down the girl’s face. Alex runs toward the group and takes down the men one by one. These buff but stupid men are clearly not a match for Alex who has completed training in kickboxing and jiu-jitsu. The rest of the group sees how good Alex is and starts to run away in fear.  
“What a bunch of wusses.”  
Alex takes off her hood and goes to help the girl stand up. Under the moonlight, she sees a small hispanic woman with a pair of deep dimples. The tears residue is still shining on her face reflecting off of the moonlight.  
“Thanks so much! You saved my life! I think I hurt my ankles, and I don’t think I can walk…”  
“It’s ok. I’ll help you.” Alex picks up the girl bridal style and she realizes she is even smaller than she looks, “Where do you live? I will bring you to your house.”  
“I… I haven’t found a place yet… I’m supposed to come and find someone.” The girl points at the suitcases in the other corner, “But who knows I’m this unlucky.”  
“You should’ve booked a hotel beforehand. LA is not as safe as it advertises to the the rest of the world, especially at night. How about this? You can stay at my place for now until you find whoever you are looking for, OK?”  
“Really? That’s perfect. Thank you so much!!” The girl flashes a bright smile at Alex and her dimples deepen as her eyes turn into the shape of crescent moon. Alex laughs at the cheerful expression of the girl and smiles as well. The duo moves slowly back to Alex’s apartment and by this point, Alex has already forgotten about her gym plan.  
“Oh, right… I haven’t introduced myself yet…” The clouds seeps into the moon as the world returns to darkness.  
“My name is Maggie Sawyer. Nice to meet you.”


	15. Chapter 15

18  
Zero Hospital, Location Unknown  
“So you are saying that the CIA agent who survived from the highway mission is Alex Danvers, who had a missing sister named Kara Danvers. And her missing sister is actually my apprentice?”  
“Yeah, from what Maggie has given me, it seems like it.” Winn is pushing Lena, who is sitting in a wheelchair, around the hospital garden. Lena looks a lot better compared to couple days ago but the withdrawal process has made her lost a lot weight and her already pale skin even paler.   
“Maggie knows this. Yet she is ordering Kara to kill this agent?”  
“Yeah, I’m like super confused right now. I don’t know why Maggie is doing this. Also, I heard Kara’s partner on this mission is Lucy Lane, which is just insane.”  
“Well, I mean… it does make sense. Lucy Lane’s expertise in biochemical weapons will make this mission a lot easier and safer for Kara.”  
“Oh come on, Lee. Can’t you act like a normal person for once? Maggie is asking your dear apprentice to kill her own sister with the killer that almost killed you. Can’t you at least act surprised?” Winn sighs at Lena’s logical analysis.   
“This is a normal response. From an assassin. In this business, there are no absolute enemies or eternal friends. I have my own plans with Lucy Lane. And Kara doesn’t remember where she comes from so Alex Danvers to her, is just another target.”  
Being detached from the rest of the world is the most cruel responsibility and aspect of being an assassin, but it is just the fate that all assassins have to accept.  
“Oh, and can you not tell Kara about her relationship with Alex just yet?” Lena requests.  
Alex Danvers had seen Kara’s face during that mission. Judging by her reaction, it seems like Alex recognized Kara right away. Did Maggie send Kara because she knows that Alex won’t kill her own sister? Or is it a test for Kara to see if Kara recognizes Alex, as well? But there is no way Kara still remembers. No one remembers their life before Zero after they come out of the Arena.  
But Kara did choose not to kill Alex last time…  
Anyways….Lena shakes her head to get rid of these questions. Her body is not 100% and this mission is just not something she can control. It is best for her to just focus on her rehab and prepare for the future. She can feel that something big might be coming their way.

Midnight  
The darkness of the night coats everything in a light grey color. A dark shadow flashes through the hospital garden and lands on the windowsill of a second-level patient ward. The window opens smoothly without any sound. Kara jumps in from outside and lands on the floor of Lena’s room, like a cat. She takes off her hood and looks at the woman lying on the hospital room.   
Master, I’m leaving for Washington DC tomorrow for my solo assignment.  
I finally did not obey your order for the first time ever.  
I thought it is important to remind myself who I’m fighting for and see how you are doing.  
Kara stands there and fail to make any of these thought into words. Her sight softens as she takes in every little details of the woman’s face. She wants to touch Lena’s face but her hands freeze mid air and retrieve back slowly. It is a step she is too afraid to take because she doesn’t know what the future holds for the two of them. She wants to cry at how much suffering Lena has went through in the past week; she wants to kill the person that is responsible for this; she wants to break down and just quit. But she can’t. She has to stay strong, for herself, and for Lena.  
Master….Master….Lena….  
She calls for Lena more than a million times in her heart, yet she doesn’t even have the courage to actually say it out aloud.  
She stands there for more than half an hour until the moon reappears from the cloud. She looks at Lena’s face for one last time and disappears back into the darkness.  
On the bed, Lena slowly opens her eyes and looks toward the window where Kara just left.   
She was exactly like Kara ten 5 years ago when she was still her brother’s apprentice.  
If she allows this to develop, it’s no good for anyone. A weapon is only effective when it doesn’t have any emotional attachment. A shot is only lethal if the trigger is pressed without any hesitation. Everyone in the assassin business knows this, yet countless assassins still choose to give up their lives for the so-called, love.  
Lena looks at the place where Kara was standing couple minutes ago, “Why are you making this so hard? Kara…”

CIA Base, Los Angeles  
“Alex, why are you going home so early these days?”  
“Oh. I’m just trying to get home in time for dinner.” Alex packs everything into her backpacks and prepares to leave, “I saved a girl from a bunch of punks couple days ago. She’s living with me now. And I have to say, she is sooo good at cooking.”  
Culinary arts is the one art that Alex cannot master even after living alone for several years. But that Maggie Sawyer is like the perfect counterpart for Alex because Alex, along with her stomach, was continually amazed by the food Maggie makes ever since the first time Maggie cooks.   
“OMG Alex. You are a CIA agent for god’s sake. How can you just trust a stranger based on their cooking skills? Have you at least done a background check?”  
“Of course. She has a clean record and all her paperworks are intact. It’s not like I put any classified stuff at home anyway. Plus, she just doesn’t look like a villain type to me.”  
“Great. So now you are judging people’s credibility based on their culinary skills AND how they look… I’m looking at the fall of a great agent right here, Alex. Shame on you.” Oliver teases.  
“Shut up, Oliver. You are just jealous because I get to have a free world-class cook at home and all you have is a leftover pizza from two days ago.” Alex teases back as she locks up her locker and heads out.  
Oliver stares at Alex’s back until she is out of his sight, and he stands there for a long time trying to make a decision. After 5 minutes or so, he takes a deep breath and walks toward Alex’s locked locker.

Alex’s condo, Los Angeles  
Alex has never been that excited to go home in a long time now. She runs up the stair and hurries to open the door to her condo. As expected, she can smell cooked food from the living room. She runs to the kitchen and asks cheerfully:  
“What’s for dinner today, Maggie?”  
Maggie looks up after placing a perfectly shaped mashed potato on each plate, and flashes Alex with her deep dimples, “Oh, you are early. I cooked creamy mushroom risotto along with a side of mashed potatoes. And of course, we have vegan ice-cream for dessert.”  
Alex was a pretty big meat lover before she met Maggie. But her idea of vegan food completely changed after she met Maggie. The vegan food Maggie makes taste 100 times better than her big Mac from McDonald’s. So she excitedly helps Maggie put the plates onto her dining table. She has grown a lot closer to Maggie over the past few days. After knowing Maggie was originally in California to look for her sister but has failed to find her, her empathy for Maggie just grew exponentially. Plus the fact that Maggie is such an excellent cook, Alex has already started to treat Maggie like a long-lost sister.  
“Your ankle is not completely healed yet you are already cooking for me… You are just such a gem, Maggie.”  
“No worries. You saved my life, remember? Technically, I owe you my life. Food’s ready, let’s eat!”  
The atmosphere lightens more as they start to converse about their days and trending topics on Twitter and all the fun stuff. Maggie never fails to make Alex laugh and Alex always make Maggie’s food sound like the best food in the whole entire food. But just as they are finishing up dessert, Maggie suddenly says,  
“I’m leaving tomorrow, Alex.”  
“Oh…” Alex doesn’t know what to respond. She knows that she doesn’t have any excuses to tell her to stay because Los Angeles is not Maggie’s home. But she has really enjoyed Maggie’s presence and had hoped that she could stay a lot longer.   
“Yeah. I have some things to take care of in my hometown. But thanks for everything that you’ve done for me in the past few days.”  
Alex suddenly feels a rush of emptiness in her heart. She has finally got rid of her loneliness in the last couple of days, but now that Maggie’s gone, seems like she has to be lonely, once again. But she still tries her best and smiles, “It’s no problem. Also, you can find me whenever you come back to California. My door is always open for you.”  
Maggie suddenly gets up from her chair and moves closer to Alex. She stops when her face is inches away from Alex’s, “Are you gonna miss me, Alex Danvers?”  
Alex is clearly startled by Maggie’s sudden move. Maggie’s face is now magnified in front of hers. Alex slightly blushes at this sights and nods mechanically. She cannot process what this move means but she knows that her heart is pounding so fast that she can go into a cardiac arrest anytime now.   
Maggie smiles and prints a kiss on Alex’s face as she goes back to her room.   
\---I will miss you, too, Alex Danvers. That is why I am going to work as hard as I can, to make you come back to me.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a long time since the last update...
> 
> It was on vacation and all that stuff so...
> 
> But here it is, enjoy!!
> 
> \--T

When Kara sees Lucy again, her eyes are filled with anger. If eyes could have killed someone, then Lucy would have died a thousand times. But Lucy doesn’t seem to care as she continues to check all the chemicals she brought with her in her suitcase.   
The big hotel room is filled with tensions between these two, but they both remain silent and pretend nothing is happening. Lucy is the one who breaks this awkward silence, “Yo, she’s not dead, right?”  
“She was on the brink of death. Thanks to you.” Kara rushes over to Lucy and puts her hands around Lucy’s throat. She just can’t hold it back any longer.  
“Hey, hey, relax. You don’t want this mission to fail, do you?”  
“I don’t.” Kara releases the choke, “So I won’t kill you before our mission is accomplished. But as soon as it finishes, your life is mine.”  
“Well, sorry to disappoint, 09. You can’t kill her, even after this mission.” X walks through the door with her usual white gloves and an all-black attire. “Lucy Lane here has to work for me unconditionally for the next five years under contract. But I will say, if you are both alive after five years, you can do whatever you want with her.”  
“Shit, I hate you.” Lucy swears at X. “I don’t know what got into my father’s head for him to agree to sell me. And don’t forget, I can make this mission go sideways at any second, X.”  
Maggie flashes a cold smile, and says casually: “I always have a plan B, how else do you think Zero stays the best assassin organization on US soil? If you decide to sabotage any of the missions that I give you, you will become to the top target to all the assassins in Zero and all the other organization that works with or for me. Do you think your father, or even Lane Estate, will be able to save you by then?”  
Kara looks at the pointy exchange from the side, and she suddenly realizes why Maggie is able to control Zero at such a young age. X is so good that she is able to control and manipulate everyone she needs and make them a chess piece in her grand plan, a plan that only she herself knows.   
Maggie doesn’t stay in their hotel room for too long. She leaves after giving them an email address, saying the mission details will be sent to them right before it start. Maggie knows this is a classified mission for the CIA, so Zero won’t be able to get the actual strategic plan until the last minute.   
The streets of Washington DC are still filled with all sorts of people like usual, but if you look close enough, you will see that some “extraordinary” people have blended into the crowd. Some are drinking coffee in front of a cafe, some are walking with the flow, and others are resting on a bench under a tree. Kara peaks through the curtain of their room, and spots these CIA agents right away.  
It seems like the mission is going to start, in any minute now.

CIA mobile command center, Washington DC  
This is the third all-nighter Alex has pulled ever since she arrived in DC. She was here for all the strategic meetings, scenario predictions, and route planning. She can now repeat the planning backwards if she wants. Tonight is the final night before the actual move and the last details are all finalized.   
Hank is sitting in the command seat and he points at the positioning of the snipers, “Oliver, you have the most experience with a sniper rifle here. What do you think of these positioning?”  
“It should work. The only issue is there are too many people on the street. It’s gonna be hard to actually locate the targets, especially if we are dealing with assassins from Zero this time.”  
“We could pair up the snipers to help with the targeting, but it doesn’t actually solve the problem.”  
“I’ve dealt with these assassins before and they are all well-trained and would do anything to finish the job. I think our main focus should still be protecting the assets from close-up. They will have the least advantage in close-quarter combats.” Alex adds.  
“Those are both some good points.” Hank nods and send a file to everyone’s phone, “This is the initial strategic plan. Read it over and memorize it. But keep in mind that things will change when we are actually in the field.”  
The CIA agents are going to split up into two teams. With Oliver and Alex leading Team Alpha and Hank leading Team Beta. Alex and Oliver will be in the car with the assets and the rest of Team Alpha will be in the convoy for tactical support in case anything goes wrong. While Team Beta will provide cover from afar on rooftops with sniper rifles.   
When Alex makes it back to her safehouse, she is finally able to rest a little after four days of restless planning. But just after she finishes her shower, there is a knock on her door. Alex opens the door and sees Oliver standing outside of her door.  
“What’s up? Oliver.”  
“Mission update. The operation has been pushed back to 0700 tomorrow morning. So rest up and I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”  
At the same time, Kara receives an email with all the strategic details from the address X gave them earlier. She kicks Lucy Lane, who is still sound asleep in the bed,   
“Yo, get up. Mission is gonna start at 0700. We have about 6 hours to prepare. So we need to start preparing.”

7:00 AM Washington DC  
The helicopter stirs up a strong wind and dusts as it ascends into the air. Alex, who is wearing her CIA parka, is fully alert and prepared. She scans the perimeter while listening to the reports from different teams through her comms.   
In 5 minutes, the bomb and sniper units are in position and the convoy is ready to go in the garage --10 Range Rovers with the same color and make. Everything is seemingly going smooth and according to plan.   
Alex takes one last deep breath before going into her assigned Rover with one of the targets, while Oliver goes into the Rover beside her with the other target. They exchange one last look before shutting the doors.  
“Alex, listen. If I don’t make it back this time. Please don’t tell Felicity the truth, just tell her that I got relocated. I don’t want her to feel sad for me.” Oliver says through the comm.  
“Hey, shut up with the pessimism. It’s going to be fine. No one is going to die today.” Alex comforts him but she knows the danger of this mission better than anyone. No one knows who or when or where Zero is going to attack. So what is going to happen in the next hour is completely unknown.   
The rover drives smoothly for about halfway to the destination. Alex remains highly alert the entire time fearing whether Zero is going to strike out at any second. But she doesn’t know the battle has already begun and a lot has already happened.  
Kara puts down her sniper rifle on one of the roofs and activates her comm, “All the snipers are down. Time to move.”  
“Cool.” Lucy, who is hiding in a garage of the building, puts on her mask, and starts to walk toward the street. She flashes an evil smile at the approaching convoy and says to herself, “It looks like I have plenty of lab rats to study on this time.”  
Kara puts on her mask and jumps down from the roof into the middle of the street with a RPG in her hand. She aims at the leading Rover of the convoy and pulls the trigger. The first Rover bursts into flame and crashes into the other cars. Suddenly, the once quiet streets are filled with pedestrian screaming and gunshots. Kara drops the RPG and takes out the pistol her belt. She is aware that she is greatly outnumbered so her goal is not to take out all of the agents, but to just take out her target and remove herself from the scene.  
Kara jumps and parkours in between the rovers trying to figure out where her target is while dodging the bullets from all the CIA agents. Her combat experience plus the MMA skills that Lena taught her allows her to remain unharmed with ease. Just as she is reaching to the last car, she sees her target entering an alley with another agent. She doesn’t just follow them in there, instead, she throws a grenade behind her to ensure her back is covered and goes into the adjacent alley to cut them off. The grenade goes off behind her and fills the space with fire and space, Kara looks like an angel from hell with the chaotic background.   
“Hey, you stay here and don’t move if you want to live.” Alex pushes the asset into the corner of the alley and takes out her pistol. “Shit, where were the snipers and where is Hank with the backup?”  
She recalls her ride here and the silence from the sniper unit in her comms. She realizes that someone probably already took out the snipers before they were attacked. It’s like the assassins already knows their plan…  
But wait, the plan was not finalized until couple hours ago…   
The only way for the assassins to know the plan is if someone from inside the CIA leaks it…. Is there a spy around her that she doesn’t know about… There are chills going down Alex’s spine because the only people that know the full plan are those she trust, and one of them betrayed her.   
On the other side of the city, Oliver’s convoy is attacked, as well. But unlike Kara, who uses killing as a last resort, Lucy Lane hereis completely indulged in it. She uses her little biochemical gadgets on the agents that have no idea what they are up against.  
Biochemical weapons are one of the most lethal weapons in the assassin business. It is the most unjust way of killing but it is also the most effective way. Without the threat of snipers, Lucy is trying out as many means as possible to make the agents suffer. And Oliver’s team is clearly unable to fight back against the double-threat of explosions and neurotoxic gases. Lucy is almost overcome with joy when she watches the target suffer a painful death because of the weapons she invented.  
In the chaotic battlefield filled with car wrecks and human flesh, Lucy Lane bows and takes her leave.   
She activates her comm and says teasingly, “Mission Complete, my dear 09. Their reinforcements are here. My target is eliminated so I’m gonna go. But good luck with yours. Catch you in a bit!”  
“Shut up!” Kara turns off her comm annoyingly and continues her search for her target. She hears a slight noise coming from the alley beside her and points her gun. She is slightly surprised to see the same agent from the highway mission.   
Huh, very interesting.   
Just as her gun goes off, the agent sprints toward her and they start a very even close-quarter combat. Both of them are fast and accurate with their punches and kicks. But just as Kara is about to punch the agent in the face, the agent suddenly kicks up catching Kara off guard. Her hair elastic flies off as she dodges the kick and her blonde hair falls onto her shoulder. This kick separates the two and Kara points her gun up at the agent using this opportunity.   
She missed last time, doesn’t mean she will this time. Kara promises herself as what happened with Lena in the garage flashed in front of her eyes. She is doing this for her master, she thinks and coldness pours out of her blue eyes.  
But just as she is about to pull the trigger --  
“Kara!”  
The agent suddenly shouts out her name. Kara’s eyes widen with disbelief but she keeps her hand with the gun.  
“Kara Danvers, it’s me! ” The agent’s eyes are filled with tears, “I’m Alex Danvers, and I’m your sister! Do you not remember me?”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry y'all... It's been forever since I last updated. School life was pretty stressed and stuff. But here is a freshly typed chapter. Hope you guys like it!!
> 
> Also thanks for all the kudos and comments. They really mean the world to me:)
> 
> \--T

Sister?  
Kara’s brows furrow and she thinks, what the hell is she talking about? I don’t have a sister.  
But out of nowhere, she feels a sense of familiarity rises from the bottom of her heart, it is as if some memories are going to resurface…  
“Kara, it’s time to come home. I can’t lose you again.”  
Alex’s eyes are filled with tears, and her voice is shaking uncontrollably. Kara freezes, because maybe, just maybe, in the distant past, someone has said the exact same word to her, in the exact same voice -- It’s time to come home, Kara.  
Sis...ter?  
Do I really have a sister?  
Kara puts down the gun and walks slowly toward Alex.  
“Kara…” Alex smiles through her tears. Finally, finally, she will have her sister back. She has waited for this moment for way too long --  
But as soon as Kara is right in front of her, Kara rushes behind her and hits Alex at the back of her neck and Alex drops to the ground.  
I’m sorry. Even though what you are saying might be true, I am a killer now. And I am too far gone to come home, ever again.  
She carried the agent’s body to the hidden alley behind her and a wallet falls out of the body she is carrying. Kara picks it up and sees an old polaroid photo in one of its layers. There are two girls in the photo, one with blonde hair just like herself, and the other one with brunette just like… her eyes drifted to the body she is carrying and sighs.  
I must be crazy, she thought to herself.  
She is just about to take out her knife and end the agent’s life when someone emerges from the opposite side. Her instincts make her pull out her gun and points at the figure. The figure raises both his hands and announces himself.  
“Hey hey, easy easy. It’s Winn. Mission complete. Congratulations. It’s time to fall back. And leave the agent, X’s orders. Also, don’t mention to anyone that I was here.” Winn is wearing a CIA jacket with disguises and he fades into the darkness once again after his short appearance.  
Kara looks at the agent that is still unconscious one last time and disappears from the crime scene. Everything falls back into silence again. It is as if all those violence and chaos never happened.  
This operation cost the lives of more than fifty CIA agents and the fact that all this havocs are done by two women from Zero is yet another proof that Zero remains the most deadly and superior assassin organization on US soil.

Couple Days Later  
Winn and Cisco’s condo, Los Angeles  
“Kara did pretty good this time.” Maggie sits on the couch with her feet up at the coffee table and her usual white gloves, “she really surprised me this time. I mean, she is still off by a couple levels compared to Lucy Lane, but looks like she’s got some potential. Lee’s not wrong to be so invested in her.”  
Cisco sits in his wheelchair opposite to the couch and smiles. He letted out a very long exhale couple days ago when he heard the mission was successful and that Kara wasn’t hurt. He couldn’t have imagined what would happen to Kara and Lena if it went sideways.  
“How’s the decryption going?”  
“All done.” Cisco takes the micro USB out of his pockets and hands it off to Maggie, “it’s all decrypted. So just plug it into your laptop and the files should just pop up.”  
“Good. Thanks, Cisco.” Maggie lets a rare smile surface and stands up, “Oh, right. I heard Lena is discharged, right? Tell her to come and see me as soon as possible.”

Zero Training Center, San Francisco  
Kara and Lucy has been laying low in the Zero training center for the past couple days. It is a precaution that all the assassins have to take after the completion of each mission. On one hand, it helps Zero determine whether there is any physiological issues in its assassins that would compromise their competency in the field; on the other hand, the authorities are usually hot on their heels after a mission, it is best for them to stay out of public sight for a couple days for the collective interest of the organization and themselves. It’s completely off the grid so there isn’t internet access or anything. All Kara and Lucy has done was physical training, including sparring against each other.  
During one of their recess, Lucy sits down next to Kara and pulls out a syringe from her pocket. She waves the syringe in front of Kara’s eyes and smirks,  
“Your dear master…. She probably would die to have this, right?”  
Kara tightens her fist and grabs the syringe off of Lucy’s hand in a flash. She turns around and puts the syringe against Lucy’s neck threatenly. Lucy doesn’t even try to dodge. She stares back at Kara’s light blue eyes and keeps up with the smirk,  
“Come on. Keep going. I dare you.”  
Kara stares at the syringe and holds that position for a long time. But eventually, her arm drops and the syringe is tossed into the garbage can across the room. She stands up and her fist lands on the wall with all the strength she has got. Her eyes dart to meet Lucy’s,  
“You don’t have to keep challenging me. I’m not going to give in and do anything… for now.”  
Kara knows very clearly in her heart that she won’t be able to defeat Lucy. There is a reason their codenames are 07 and 09. Moreover, she doesn’t have time for revenge right now. She made a promise to Lena and she will do everything in her power to make sure she fulfill it. She knows she has to wait, wait for someday she is strong enough to go against Lucy Lane the right way. Her time has yet to come.  
A knock on the training room door breaks up the thick tension in the room. A Zero officer comes in and informs them that they are cleared and are free to go back to their everyday routine. Kara packs up quickly and glares at Lucy one more time.

Kara and Lena’s warehouse, San Francisco  
Kara was going to go directly to the hospital to check on Lena but she realizes that she hasn’t showered properly for the past couple days. And she was worried to bring bacterias to the hospital which could potentially harm Lena. So she decided to go back to the warehouse first to clean up.  
Kara freezes as soon as she unlocks the door. There is a familiar figure behind the punching bag practicing basic kickboxing routines. That is the figure she has longed for the past month and she has to hold back the urge to cry.  
“Master…”  
Lena stops and takes off her boxing gloves. She steps out from behind the punching bag and Kara is finally able to see her clearly. Lena has clearly lost a lot of weight from all the suffering she went through, but her muscle tones are still there. Kara looks at the all the scars scrawling on Lena’s bare skin that she remember very clearly and the face that appears in her dream every single night. There is Lena, alive and well. Kara finally lets out the breath that she has been holding since they came back from Mexico.  
“Hey, there. I heard your first solo mission was successful. Congrats.” Lena’s voice pulls Kara out of her reveries.  
“Uhm, yeah. I saw Lucy Lane and I didn’t kill her. I know it wasn’t the right thing to do.” Kara shoves all her emotion deep into her heart and looks up with a calm gaze. Her eyes meet Lena’s and the world just falls silent around them. After what felt like eternity, Lena’s green eyes twitches a little and she says, “you’ve changed”.  
\---You’ve grown to be more mature, grown to know how to hide things. The emotions that I could read just by looking at your eyes in the past, are not there anymore.  
Lena walks to the couch and sits down. Her eyes gesture Kara to sit down next to her. “I see that you have really grown in our time apart.”  
“Are you all healed, Master?”  
“Well, I would say 80% ish.”  
The world falls silent again.  
It is like the world suddenly turned 180 degrees. It used to be Kara patiently waiting for Lena to come back, now the role is reversed for the first time. But why does the distance between you and me still feel so infinite?  
Kara has missed Lena every single second since they’ve been apart. Now they are back together, all the words and all the love she want to express just seem to be stuck at her throat. Kara looks at Lena’s green eyes, but she just can’t say anything.  
As to Lena’s silence, it is mostly attributed to the conversation she had with Maggie yesterday. Maggie told her Kara’s real name is Kara Danvers and that agent she didn’t kill, is really her sister.  
Kara Danvers.  
It used to be just Master’s Kara or Lena’s Kara. But she has a last name now and she becomes, Kara Danvers.  
Kara Danvers, unlike her Kara, has her own family, past, and backstory, that doesn’t involve Lena.  
Lena looks down at her own hands and sighs, “Kara, if you didn’t become an assassin for Zero, what type of life do you think you would be living right now?”  
Kara frowns a little, not sure what causes Lena to have this question. But her thought does flicker to that CIA agent who claimed to be her sister and that old polaroid photo. If she isn’t a killer, then who would she be and what would her be doing and who would she meet? Kara looks at the Lena and all the things they have done together surfaced in front of her eyes.  
[If I am not a killer, I still hope I would find you, just under a different set of circumstances and with a different identity.]  
“This hypothesis isn’t valid, Master.”  
[I hope I can stand next to you. I hope I can get close to you. I hope I can hug you and call you by your real name.]  
“I am already an assassin. I have taken countless lives, so all I can be, at least for this life, is an assassin.”  
[But if I am not an assassin, how would I have meet you?]  
“So, master, I will always follow you no matter what. I swore to become your sharpest weapon. And that is a promise I intend to keep, for the rest of my life.”  
[But Lena, if I am not an assassin, would you fall in love with me?]


	18. Chapter 18

The incident with the two witnesses was a shock to all the law enforcements across the US. The authority and ability of CIA was questioned once again by Zero, and the leadership is definitely not happy about how this turned out with the death and serious injuries of some of the top agents in the agency. Almost everyone out in the field that day sustained life-threatening injury, except for Alex Danvers. Some people started to ask questions like, how did she survive and is there something fishy between Alex and Zero? Knowing how this looks, Alex knew it is best if she laid low for a little while. So she requested for a no-pay leave and stayed in her apartment.   
It has been a while since she left her apartment without her badge and gun so everything feels just a little bit weird. She takes a deep breath and walks to the nearest mall to get some fruit and flowers for Hank and Oliver, who are both still in a coma in the hospital.   
She starts jogging toward the hospital after her shopping to treat it as her exercise for today. Her mind involuntarily goes to last time she took a proper run and that girl who briefly showed up in her life. Maggie… what is she doing right now? Did she find her sister?  
She stops after 30 minutes when she reaches the hospital. According to the nurse, Hank had woken up this morning and has been transferred out of the ICU; Oliver, on the other hand, is still in there fighting for his life. She walks into Hank’s room and sees a weak Hank with half of his body covered in bandages. He smiles as she walks in with fresh flowers.  
“Hey Alex. Good to see you here. Sorry you had to go on leave because of this.”  
“It’s alright, Hank. I’m partially responsible for what happened anyways. I feel so guilty that I keep playing the whole thing in my head. But I just don’t know which part went wrong.”  
“I think… there might be a mole inside CIA.” Hank looks at Alex with a serious face.  
“A mole? But who?” Alex suddenly realizes something and she lets out a bitter laugh, “I guess I’m on the top of the suspect list, right? I’m the only one who made it out ok.”   
“No, Alex. I’ve worked with you for 5 years now. I know who you are and I know that you wouldn’t do it. As for the others, I am not sure. Although if I had to choose, I would say Oliver Queen. He showed up at a weird time and I don’t know, something is off about him.”  
Alex’s first reaction is to defend Oliver. He can’t be a mole from Zero. The memory of him and Felicity laughing and drinking coffee together flashes in front of her eyes. No, Oliver can’t be the mole.  
“But… Oliver is in the ICU right now. The doctors say there is a very big chance that he won’t ever wake up. Don’t you think it’s a little bit too cruel for Zero to just kill one of their own?”  
“I’m only suspecting. But everything was fine before he showed up…” Hank starts coughing and it seems like the fighting and the nerve gas really took a toll on him.  
Alex puts her hand on Hank’s shoulder to comfort him, “I will look into this. Now you just focus on getting your body back to 100 percent. I don’t want a new boss, ok?”  
Alex goes to visit Oliver next. He is still in the ICU so all Alex can do is to look at him from outside the window. There are all sorts of tubes attached to his body and his chest rises and falls rhythmically as the machine beside him beeps.   
How can he be the mole?  
On her way back, she takes a detour to Felicity’s cafe. She sits down at their usual spot and waves at Felicity who is making her way here from the other side of the cafe.   
“No Oliver this time?” Felicity sets down the menu and asks.  
“Oh, yeah…” Alex is caught off guard by this question, “Uhm… Oliver is…”  
“What’s wrong? Is he hurt?”  
“Uhm, no… He’s just off to Europe on a work assignment that’s probably going to take him a while. Couple months, I think.” Alex tries to calm down her breathing by looking through the menu items one by one. “Since Oliver is not here, I will just take his usual order. I’m curious to see what brings him back here so often.”  
“OK. An Irish coffee coming up.”  
It only took couple minutes for Felicity to reappear with the coffee in her hand. She places the mug in front of Alex carefully. Alex smiles and picks up the mug to take a sip.  
“How’s it tasting?”  
“I like it. Bitter with a spicy aftertaste. It’s very Oliver Queen.” Alex sets down the mug back on the table, “But I think what draws him to this cafe is not the coffee, but who he is going to see here, right?”  
Felicity is suddenly as red as a tomato and she looks like she wants to get away, as far as possible. Alex laughs and grabs Felicity’s sleeve, “Don’t run. I’m not gonna hurt you. Seriously though, Oliver doesn’t smile a lot, but everytime you come up, he smiles like he is a three-year old.”  
“Uhm… maybe?... I don’t know… I feel like even though he looks all cold and cool and stuff, he’s very warm inside, you know? But I don’t know… maybe we are like soulmates or something… sorry, I’m like rambling…”  
“Haha it’s okay. I see why Oliver is obsessed with you. I just want to say that even though it seems that he is withholding a lot of information, he does care about you, a lot. This work trip… he didn’t have a choice. So you have to wait for him to come back, ok?”  
Felicity looks at the short-haired brunette who just blurted out those words and she feels like her skin is about to be light on fire. So she looks down and nods shyly,   
“Well, I’m not going anywhere. As long as this cafe is still here, so am I.”  
Did you hear that, Oliver?  
She said she is not going to leave. So please, please, please wake up. You know it’s not gentlemen-like if you keeps your girl waiting. 

Lena and Kara’s warehouse  
Lena and Kara’s lives have fall back into a normal routine that consists of training, eating, and sleeping. Lena’s addiction has improved a lot over the past couple weeks. It’s still there, but happens a lot less often. When it does, she usually just locks herself in a small room with a punching bag and train until the addiction rides through. Other than that, everything is going peacefully. For some reason, Maggie hadn’t give them any missions since Lena’s discharge. But they know better than just relax, so over the past couple weeks, both of them have improved their close-combat skills by a fair amount.  
“Are you bored yet, Kara? It has been the longest vacation ever.” Lena is relaxing on the couch and looking out toward the busy streets.  
“I kind of like it. We get to do things that we really enjoy.”   
Most importantly, we don’t have to be covered in blood every single day. Kara sits in front of the piano that has been neglected for quite a while. She settles her finger on the black-and-white keys and starts playing.  
Kara has always had an attraction to piano music. She remembers that the first time she ever heard it was on a mission with Lena when she was 15. She likes the soothing notes flowing out of the grand piano and its sharp contrast to the chaotic aftermath they just created. So she asked Lena to get a piano after that mission and started learning on her own. Turns out, she does have some musical talent because her skills become better and better as the time went on.  
“Come on, musician. Entertain me with some music.” Lena lies down on the couch and says casually. The sunshine from outside the window pours in and adds a glow to Lena’s pale face. Kara looks at Lena tentatively for a couple seconds and turns her attention back to the piano keys. Suddenly, music notes that are filled up with her emotion flow the room.   
The music is soft and gentle with a hint of melancholy and a hint of hope. Kara is completely focused on the music. It is cathartic. The helpless sadness she felt when Lena was hurt and the untouchable love she craves are all let out in the form of music. When she finally finishes, Kara realizes then that tears have blurred her vision.   
But the target of all of those emotions have not noticed any of this. She is still lying on the couch, with her eyes closed.   
“I like it, what’s the music called?”  
“It’s by Richard Clayderman. I don’t think you will know it if I said the name.” Kara replies playfully to cover up all the emotions she just felt.  
It’s called Dream Wedding, Lena.   
But you really don’t know anything, do you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked this chapter! There's going to be couple more like this. It is all building toward the first little climax of the story. So stay tuned...
> 
> And thank you for all the kudos and comments! Keep em' coming so I know where to improve for the future:)
> 
> \---T


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